


My Favorite Word

by EgoDominusTuus



Series: Like Good Soldiers [11]
Category: Fallout 3, Fallout 4
Genre: (He made me tag that), Emotions, Jack is Amazing, Kink, M/M, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Porn With Plot, Psychic Bond, Psychic Wolves, Psychic Wolves For Lupercalia, Rape, Relationship Evolution, That Thing Not Lust, dub-con, heat - Freeform, non-con, what is love?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 05:11:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5992762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EgoDominusTuus/pseuds/EgoDominusTuus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack always gets what he wants.  (Companion Piece to Little Lady)</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Favorite Word

**Author's Note:**

> The events of this work transpire exactly the same in the normal verse, save for the fact that there aren't wolves running about.

I’ve had blood on my hands since I was eight years old. I can remember it very clearly, stark red against the dust of the Wasteland. I’d run my fingers through the long, crimson locks of my hair… only to realize that the color was the same. I’d killed the butcher, because he’d had the audacity to suggest that I could pay him with something _other_ than the money we didn’t have, if I wanted to feed my family.

  Suffice to say, I’d gone home with a nice radsteak that night, and the butcher’s smooth, shiny knife tucked into my pants. They’d never suspected that the murder had happened at the hands of sweet little Jack, whose lilac eyes held wide, and certainly couldn’t hold a lie. I’ve always been fucking _beautiful_ , and the charm that dripped from me like a palpable thing has always worked to my advantage.

  “ _Jack_ brought us dinner home.”

  “ _Jack_ is such a good boy.”

  “ _Jack,_ please, don’t do this.”

  “ _Jack, you’re so beautiful.”_

  God, I think that my name has always been my favorite word.

   I realized that staying in some low life settlement wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Between ghouls, super mutants, and the casual pervert like the butcher, it was a dead fucking end. I already knew how to use my favorite, shining blade to get what I wanted. I’d learned, as puberty hit me and I started growing more handsome than beautiful, that I could use my looks to get me anything that I wanted.

  And what I wanted was more. I wanted to get out of this Hell hole, and to not have to worry about if I’d be able to eat for that week _ever again._ There were a few options… but I wasn’t going to join up with the Brotherhood of Bastards, ready to serve as long as you were ready to take orders. I needed something that I could crawl to the top of the ranks of in record time. Raiders were too sloppy - but Gunners.

  Gunners sounded charming.

  At least, they would be once I was in charge.

  Contacting the Gunners wasn’t that hard - I just told them that there was a defenseless town that they could easily raid. Convincing them that I meant business was something entirely different. I can still remember the way that my mother screamed when I took that butcher’s blade and slid it into my father’s stomach. It cut like butter from navel to nape, and the wash of gore at the hands of a thirteen year old brought a small sound of appreciation from the men standing behind me, guns pointed at my back.

  I turned, lilac eyes flaring, and felt the wash of crimson as my mother’s scream tapered off. Her throat opened in a crimson grin, and she fell to the ground, her gaze still fixated on me - her words still on her tongue.

   _“Jack…_ ”

  “That’s right,” I’d whispered then, “Say my name.” And then I’d turned back to the Gunners, using the blood that had washed across my face to slick my hair from my eyes. “You have a choice - kill me now, and I can promise that you’ll lose one of your greatest assets… or,” I shrugged, and I felt a slow smile spread across my lips, “You can let me stay… and I can promise, I’ll get you more goods, recruits, and information than you could ever hope to get with your ugly mugs.”  
   Ah, charisma. Charisma and the blood-soaked face of a goddamn _angel._ It’ll get you so many places.

 

\---

 

  I have no shame in saying that I slept my way up in ranks, at least in part. Sex is nice, especially when you know what you’re doing. I’d already had practice in our little settlement - and apparently the Gunners were in short supply of people who could make them moan… because they always came back and begged for more.

   Begging, I could always use in my favor. Begging… mmm, I loved the sound of it.

    _Jack, please._

_Jack, one more time._

_Jack, don’t leave._

_Jack, fuck me harder._

God, how could you get sick of hearing that?

   I was seventeen when I became the leader of the Gunners - through blood and violence, and my fair share of rape, pillage, and plunder. They realized that having a leader who could turn a whole settlement on his side with a warm speech and a soft smile was a good thing. They also realized that I’d slit the throat of anyone who stood in my way, and fuck anyone who behaved well. What can I say? I’m a convincing man. As soon as I came into my position, I immediately appointed someone to act in lieu of my command - I wasn’t going to put my face out there, as the leader. Anyone who wanted to take out the Gunners would have no problem finding me. Anyone who wanted to take out the Gunners would have a hard time picking out dirt covered bastard A from dirt covered bastard B. My word was the command, but I was never the one who issued it.

   I was a recruiter, a talent scout. I looked for new members of my gang, because _someone_ needed to start being a bit more picky about who came into the ranks. And I was, for three years - I still let in the dirty-faced desperate, because cannon fodder was necessary. But I also let in men like Winlock and Barnes, who became my right hand assets (and who I actually took the time to fuck more than once.) Amongst the boring, I brought in the special - and the Gunners grew more efficient than they ever had before.

  But still, it wasn’t enough. And worse, I was getting bored with everyone around me. They all called my name, and it did _nothing_ to really brush against my senses. I needed _more._

  The only thing that brought me any real sense of satisfaction was Adonis - a round of pups had come through the Gunners, and I’d made damn sure I had my first pick. There wasn’t any waiting for my _turn._ I’d marched straight into the pile of playful fluffballs and instantly knew which I was going for. In the corner, with his head held high, sat Adonis. He was bigger than his brothers and sisters, and his fur was not a white, or black. Instead, fluffy and thick, it was a muddied white that seemed to dance with undertones of black.

   _Mine._ The word was instantly in my mind. He was the most gorgeous out of the group - my fingers seized around him, and when his yellow eyes connected to my own, I felt something instantly fall into place. I fell forward into the scent of him, _littermates blood and hubflowers_. My favorite, sweet grape flavor. And the bloodstain around his chin let me know why he wasn’t playing with his littermates - he’d snapped at them to show them their place.

  He was perfect.

  Adonis was the only living thing in the camp that I didn’t get _bored_ with. He came with me everywhere, and he quickly grew into a large wolf, who's back came to my upper thigh. Of course, on a diet of meat - human and livestock alike, I expected nothing less. Our minds flowed in sync, and when I fucked a new recruit, Adonis always had his fun if they had a bitch.

 Still, listlessness and boredom were a living, breathing, palpable duo to me, and I had to do something to fight it.

  I set out with a small group to do a raid; a caravan that was passing through our territory. It should have been an easy mark, so I was confused when our front men had a head… and then suddenly, they didn’t. I ordered the group to keep moving forward, but I held back. Hidden in the shadows of the trees, I waited.

  The flash of a silver muzzle, gunfire… blue eyes in the moonlight. _Oh. Yes._

  There was no guilt in me as I hung back and watched the young sniper take out the half dozen men that I’d brought with me to loot the caravan - it didn’t look like it had very decent supplies anyway. Clearly, what I’d really been looking for was standing in front of me now, lowering the barrel of his weapon and wiping a few droplets of blood from his face where one of my boys had gotten close enough to induce some blowback.

  Crimson smeared like a love letter on his cheek, and I watched him pull the hat that he wore off to slick fingers through blonde hair. Where he’d come from, the Commonwealth hadn’t touched him the same as the others.

   Wherever he came from, I knew where he was going. One way or another, he was leaving with me.

  I didn’t approach him then; I had a feeling that, had I done so, he would have tried to take my head off just as much as the Gunner’s that he’d wiped out. I _did_ notice that he took the time to check my boy’s pockets for anything of value. A slow smirk spread across my features as I listened to him curse softly under his breath. His hands came down, fussing for a moment at the scarf around his neck, I think checking to make sure there was no blood on it… and then he went back to the caravan.

  I’d see where it was going, and then I’d let him know where _he_ was going. There was no denying Jack the things that he wanted - I only hoped that my little Sniper, as it were, made the right decision. I’d truss him up and bring him back to my room if necessary.

  He walked through the rest of the night and into morning, dropping the caravan off at the designated location. I made a mental note of the camp - we could always come back and get their supplies later - and then followed him out as he started to backtrack. I waited until he was well out of screaming distance of the little settlement he’d gone to, and then I silently slid up beside him. My voice spilling out caused him to jerk, his fingers instantly going for his gun. With a small chuckle, my fingers dipped into my pocket, grabbing a Grape Mentat to pop between my lips.

  “Calm down, I’m not here to hurt you.” _Yet._ “My name’s Jack,” _you’ll be shouting it very soon._ “You look like you might be a good shot. I was wondering,” My fingers dug into my pocket, and I pulled out a small bag that shook in evidence of the caps inside, “Are you for hire?” My lips spread into a slow, charming smile, and my free hand came up to tuck a few strands of hair from my gaze.

   “Why should I trust you, mun--” He cut himself off, blue eyes narrowing, “ _Jack_?” A small little shiver trailed up my spine at the way he hissed my name out. The small smile on my face spread further, and I tilted my head to the side.

   “You don’t have to trust me,” I shook the bag in my hand again, making it clear that there were enough caps in there to keep him stocked up on food and ammo for a good month, “But you can trust a bag full of caps, and the fact that I need a sniper at my back.” Of course, I was going to have to make up a _job,_ now. I needed to see in what direction his moral compass had a tendency to swing. My fingers came to my lips and I gave a quick, sharp whistle. I felt the press of Adonis on my mind - he’d been hanging back, watching for any intruders. The great white wolf loped up to us now, the bursts of black twined in his underfur shifting to show through occasionally, and my fingers came up to spill through the thick fur between his ears.

   _We want this one, Adonis. Let’s play nice._

I saw the way that the boy in front of me startled, his eyes wary, his fingers gripping his gun all the tighter with it turned towards my wolf. Adonis sat beside me calmly, yellow eyes turning up to look at me dubiously. _Really?_ Those eyes said.

  “Oh, _stop that_ .” I looked into those blue eyes, my own brows furrowed. “He’s _mine_ , and he won’t hurt you as long as you play nice.” My fingers stroked through Adonis’ fur once more, and I shook the bag of caps one more time. “So, are you game?” I tried to make my face the epitome of boyish innocence - this one seemed far too untrusting. It was clear that he hadn’t seen much of the world, from the way that he’d reacted to Adonis… and it was just as clear that he was already jaded to people, from the way he reacted to me. He was this mixture of innocence and mistrust all at once, and I couldn’t help but to be curious of the taste.

   Finally, after a long pause, his voice gave me an answer, “... what’s the job?”

   Of course, he’d ask the one question that I didn’t have an answer for. I looked him up and down, curious as to what aspect of the Gunners would appeal most to his sensibilities. Clearly, the caps were a perk for him, or his eyes wouldn’t have watched the way that the bag swung back and forth so carefully, as though he was calculating the pay by clinking tops alone. We took what we want, when we wanted it. We were secure, in our own way. I wouldn’t call us a family, but we watched after ours when it came down to it.

  Hmm.

  “There’s a Raider camp to the north that took something from my group.” They’d attacked a group of my men - looted their bodies and left them for scavenger food. “They have some comeuppance in order, and I want my things _back_.” Their weapons, ammo, armor. And everything that the fucking Raiders had. “You can have your share of the rifle ammo that we loot. We don’t have many snipers.”

   _Yet._

  His eyes lit up at the mention of ammo, and even more at the mention of raiders, and I felt a small clench of satisfaction in my gut. I was _excellent_ at reading people.

  “I can handle raiders,” his voice sounded confident. I threw the bag of caps at him, forcing him to lower the rifle that he’d still been holding at attention to catch it.

   “My group pays better than that caravan ever could.” I shrugged at my own words, and turned tail. After a second, I heard him move to catch up to my side. My smile was quick to come, and I flicked another look at him. “What’s your name?”

  “Robert Joseph MacCready.” He spoke the name proud, like it was something sweetly unique that he could say it. I couldn’t get a complete read on his actions, and that of itself was _interesting._ “And you’re Jack..?” Like he meant to get the rest of it.

  “Just Jack.” I’d lost my last name the minute that I slit my mother’s throat. Jackson Blaze Ledman wasn’t a person at all. Not anymore.

  “All right, _Just Jack_ ,” his blue eyes were cool as he spoke, but I could see him assessing me as he stood beside me, and apparently approving of _something_ that he saw, “Let’s get this job over and done with.”

 

\---

 

  Robert Joseph MacCready was startlingly easy and difficult to get information out of all at once. His body language often gave him away. When I casually asked him where he’d come from, he’d blatantly refused to give me a straight answer more than a place with a _bunch of people around our age_. He’d looked my face over then, as though to ascertain for sure that we were close to age, and the thought clicked in my head. I’d heard of a place run by children, where no adults were allowed.

    _Sweet fucking summer child._

   Likewise, when I carefully let hot breath spill across his neck while leaning to get food from our campfire that night, and gooseflesh spilled across his skin, chased by a full shiver, my mind instantly clicked on the word _virgin._

   _Innocent on so many levels._ I was hard just thinking about it.

  There was also something about the fact that he was fixated on our age, and I instantly latched onto it, wondering if my sneaking suspicion was correct. “Well, it’s hard to trust anyone much older, isn’t it?” My eyes had flicked to the campfire, and I shrugged, “They’re only out for themselves.”

  He’d given me a wary, careful expression then, but I could see the way that my words sunk in.

   _Perfect._

\---

 

  The raider camp seemed quiet in the light of the rising dawn. I wanted every single one of them wiped out - I’d meant to bring a bigger crew with me to do so, but I had faith in my skill. After all, I had my newfound little Sniper to back me up. My fingers slipped into my boot, pulling out the knife that I’d kept with me since my childhood. “Are you ready for this?” My words were soft spoken, and I could see the way that he seemed to be steeling himself. A curt nod was my only answer, but it was good enough.

  “Stay here, watch my back.” _Watch me work._

Adonis and I were a quiet, swift shadow as we snuck our way into the camp. Between his sharp teeth and my skilled fingers, four of the raiders were taken out before anyone noticed the sound of gurgling throats being slit.

  What I hadn’t accounted for was the fact that the bastards had been _expecting_ us. _Well, fuck._

  “Start earning your caps then, MacCready.” I muttered it under my breath, and no sooner had I said it then I felt the explosion of a skull beside me - I’d been ready to throw my blade into his body, but MacCready’s aim was dead true. I didn’t take the time to look behind me - from the trajectory, I could tell exactly where he stood. A small smile flit my features, and I got back to work.

   Four more bodies in, and my shirt stained crimson, and I noticed something off kilter. A few feet from me, a gun was raised, level and steady.

  It wasn’t aimed at me.

  My mind took a quick second to think - it was aimed where Robert Joseph MacCready was standing. The raider seemed to be taking careful aim, and I _saw_ when the smile bloomed across his features - a perfect shot. I got that same smile when someone exposed their neck in a fight.

   _Fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck. Sweet summer child indeed._

  I dove forward before I knew what I was doing, and I felt the explosion of the gun against my shoulder. My vision ran the color of _murder._

A sharp _snap_ was the man’s wrist - I quickly switched my knife to the hand that was still properly working and felt it slam home in the fucker’s torso. It ripped up in a wash of _red,_ and in tandem, a bullet took him in the skull.

   _Red, red, red._ It was like Robert and I were singing a duet of flesh and blood.

  My shoulder screamed protest as I moved to the left, dropping the body to finish the job at hand - there were only a small handful of raiders left, and my little Sniper took out three of the four quicker than I would have expected possible. As my knife sank home into the fourth, Adonis dragging him down to the ground to tear at his throat, I could hear Robert approaching.

  I let the pain that I was feeling sweep into my eyes, but I kept my face stubborn as I turned to look at him. I could feel blood dripping in a steady flow from my shoulder, and I didn’t have to fake it as I half leaned back against the dirty shack that I’d pulled the last raider out of.

  I saw blue eyes slant to my obvious wound, and golden brows snap together. “Do you need a doctor?”

  “Do you see a doctor around here?” I wiped the blade of my knife on a clean spot of my pants and slid it home in my boot. My working fingers dipped into my pocket to find another Mentat, and I frowned. “I’ll be fine.” My eyes searched his face - had he seen that I’d taken the bullet for _him_ in the first place? Could I turn this into my benefit? I fucking _hated_ getting wounded - I damn well needed to give it a purpose.

   I could see the way that his mind was processing things, and I let myself shrug. “It’d be piss poor of me to get you shot on your first job.” _People don’t wound things that are mine._ My mind sparked to his distrust, to the way that he seemed to need of showing that he was self-sufficient - like a kid. All kids really wanted to know that there was someone there… someone who they could stand beside. Someone on their _side._ “I’ve got your back, Robert Joseph MacCready.” Blood was a hot line down my shoulder, but I fixed him with my lilac eyes. Waiting… _waiting._

  The silence in the camp around us - deafening proof that we were alone, save for Adonis crunching happily on fresh bones - held nothing but a small intake of his breath. Surprise flashed across his features for a brief moment, and then he shouldered his rifle.

  “Thanks,” Begrudging, but not really. Like a child trying to sound tougher than they were, “I’ve got your back, too.”

   _Perfect._

 

\---

 

  It wasn’t hard to convince him after my display of _protectiveness_ that the Gunners was the way to go. More caps than he needed, food, a steady place to live. He was with us for a few months when I realized I needed to get him a bitch. A few groups of pups were pooled together, and I took all of the males to the side. I’d have repeated the process as many times as necessary, but Robert came away with a pretty little female pup, and I could hear the low rumble of satisfaction in Adonis’ chest.

  I always took care of my boy, after all.

  More months still, and I spent every chance that I could to learn more about my newly acquired Sniper. Small brushes, gentle touches, all seemingly accidental - but it was a sweet gathering of information that told me where some of his sweet spots were. I waited until his bitch was old enough that Adonis wouldn’t break her… and then I carefully threatened every bastard in my camp.

   _Let MacCready have the showers tonight. To himself. If you fucking interrupt him, I’ll flay you alive and feed you your own flesh, understood?_

No one had argued with me. My men were smart enough to know that my threats weren’t idle.

  I put Adonis at the shower door - I knew that my little Sniper’s wolf would try to interrupt me sooner rather than later, and I wasn’t going to have any of that. Opening the door gave a small burst of steam - the cool night made the sun warmed water a sweet luxury that I’m sure Robert was enjoying.

  I slid in silent as a whisper and leaned my back against the wall, watching the way that he leaned into the water, letting it spill over the sweet curve of his back, down to squeezable ass cheeks.

   _Perfect._

 I stripped down, letting my clothing fall silently to the ground. I might have waited until he was done, but watching the water slip across his skin was making me jealous - I wanted to touch him, _now._ I’d waited so long… it was finally fucking _time._ I took a second to spill a Grape Mentat between my lips, and then I stepped forward, my cock already hard from having watched him… and from the knowledge that I’d finally hear him screaming my name, sooner rather than later.

  God, I was going to make him fucking _beg_ for how long I’d had to wait.

  Of course, I’d have made him beg, anyway.

  Careful footsteps brought me within inches of him, and for a moment, I acquainted myself with the way that the line of heat running from his body was a fraction warmer than the water that spattered back against my bare flesh.

  When his head dipped back and sopping hair fell against my shoulder though, a slow, burning grin spilled across my face.

   _Time to play._

 I felt the tension and confusion instantly burn across his body, but my eager fingers were already spilling forward. Hungry pads danced against his ribs, feeling the remnants of broken bones that hadn’t been set just right. Beneath the grime of the Wasteland, Robert Joseph MacCready had perfect skin, only made more enticing by the scars that kissed his flesh. My wandering touch took me across the sweep of a tight, muscled abdomen, my touch full of clear intention as I swept across his hips. I let my hand dance down for a moment, to the top of his thigh, and then back up to what I’d been seeking all along - smooth, hard, wet.

   _Mmmmm…._

His body stiffened in full now, and the head that had been against my shoulder snapped up. I saw him try to focus, try to think - I wasn’t going to have any of that. Instead, I dipped my head forward and did something that I’d been aching to do for so many months.

  My mouth found his in a hot kiss, tongue not waiting for permission to part his lips and delve inside. My hand closed around the impressive girth of the man in front of me, and I could nearly feel a low moan of appreciation spilling from my throat as I let my tongue lay claim to the mouth that had been mine all along. I pulled back from the kiss, though only enough to let my tongue play a hot line to his cheek, licking the shower water from his skin as I made my way to his ear.

  “I see my little Sniper is hardly so _little_ where it counts.” The realization that spilled over his body was a delicious thing - I could feel him tense in recognition of my voice. I could feel the sweet tingle of goosebumps cover his flesh as my tongue curved along the shell of his ear.

  “ _Jack_ \--” Mmm, _fuck me_ , I loved the way that my voice came from his throat. Panicked, confused, and just a shade of breathy.

  “You remembered my name.” _How could he have forgotten it, when I made my presence a soft background of permanence in his everyday life. I just wanted an excuse._ “ _Good._ That needs to be rewarded, I think. Don’t you agree?” I’d been caressing his erect prick before, but now I let my fingers give a tight squeeze, pumping harder in recognition of the way that he mewled my name. I could feel a slight, reflexive thrust from his sweet virgin hips, and I had to swallow a growl.

  “Jack, st--” No. My mouth covered his lips before he could demand that I left him be. Not that it would do him a damn bit of good. I was going to have him whether he wanted it or not - his cooperation would just signify how much he enjoyed himself. For a moment, he gave in to the way that my tongue pillaged his mouth, and then I felt him tense. His body shifted to gain leverage, and it wasn’t hard to guess what he was doing.

  I used his own momentum against him as I wrenched his elbow that he’d intended to dig against my ribs. I pulled that arm behind his back and send him spinning forward, pinning him against the cold steel of the shower walls. A low grumble of satisfaction spilled through me - it was always a bit more fun when they fought, after all.

  “Now,” I spilled my warning against his neck, “don’t be naughty, I _do_ want both of us to enjoy this.” And he would. I had full confidence in my skills - I’d make him scream, even if he didn’t think he needed to. I jerked his arm upward to get my point across - I’d have him, one way or another. Fighting would only bring on pain. What I wanted to give him was _pleasure._ A small sound spilled from him, and I knew why he panicked. It was his arm, his strength, how he earned his keep.

   _And I’d pop it out of the fucking socket if I had to._

  I eased off before I did any actual damage - I much preferred him a sweet artist with his skills, and breaking his arm would stop him from painting me pictures of death ever again. “Don’t make me change my mind.” My mouth spilled forward, my lips a press against the base of his skull in contrast to the punishment I’d just delivered. It was all about equal shares - pain and pleasure could go hand in hand, if you knew how to meter them out.

  I knew how.

  “I--”

  “I know.” Free fingers swept upward, pushing aside blonde hair that was dark brown with the moisture of the shower. Greedy, my tongue spilled out to lick against the shell of his ear once more, and I reveled in the feel of his body shivering in response. It felt good, _so good,_ but I wanted more. I wanted his voice like a gentle cry, whimpering out my favorite word.

  “Now, be a good kitten and _purr_ for Jack. I know you can.”

  My fingers slipped forward again, hungry from having been denied touching him for those few moments. Digits splayed, and I pressed my palm flat against his waist, securing him against my body. I let my head lean forward so that my lips could get at the sweet taste of his neck - his pulse jumping beneath my careful ministrations. My tongue took delicate tastes of his skin, and my body gave a bursting demand of _touch him again._

  He wasn’t going to try to run this time.

  I slipped my fingers from his wrist and let them drop again to the half-hardness of his prick. Pain and the chill of the wall had stolen away my work, but my skilled hands quickly brought my little Sniper back to full attention… and the sounds, oh the fucking glorious sounds that spilled hard and needy from his chest when he gave way to the sensation of me stroking hard at his cock was nearly enough to make me lose myself and all of my plans then and there.

   _Nearly._

I could feel his weight hard against my palm, the corded muscles of my arm keeping him upright and flush against me. His hands flailed almost weakly, trying to find something to hold on to, and the writhing motion of his body send slick flesh working against my dick in an all too tantalizing fashion.

  “Jack--” My hand pumped harder, my eyes closing tight at the way he whimpered out that word, my favorite word. “Jack-- _fuck_ \--”

   _No, but we will soon._

“That’s _right,_ kitten…” Mmm, fuck but he felt good. The way that he whimpered drove me to thrust my hips forward, my pelvis working in tandem with the stroke of my fingers, so that each long stroke brought my cock closer to that tight ring of muscle that was just _begging_ me to fill it.

   Another thrust, and I could feel his dick pulsing in my hand, the large vein heady and ready for release. My eyes slanted open, and I could see the way that he thrummed and throbbed, the shade of that sweet organ darker with the want, ready to give way to its desires. Once more… once more…

  And then I stepped away from him, leaving him cold and nearly collapsing against the steel of the wall. My voice was hot when I spoke. “Oh, not yet.” Eager little kitten. “Not even close, my little Sniper. I’ve waited too long for this for you to be finished so _soon._ ”

  “ _Jack_ \--” I spilled his body around. For just a second, my eyes swept over eager muscles and moist skin. I needed him out of this shower. _Now._ My hands came around him, the strength in my arms in tandem with the lean build of his small frame making it easy for me to pick him up and throw him easily over my shoulder. I took a second to possessively dance my fingers against his thigh, and then spilled forward to turn off the shower water.

   No need to be wasteful, after all.

   My hand found his flesh again, this time in a stinging slap that made my palm burn and my body scorch - his prick against my chest jerked in response to the touch. He was learning already. I could feel a blush crawl along his flesh, hot against my hold.

  “Alright. Let’s get going; I have a _special_ treat set up just for you.”

  I spilled from the showers, completely aware of the fact that anyone in camp could turn to see Robert Joseph MacCready’s bare ass if they bothered to. Of course, they could turn and see my perfectly muscled nudity as well, if they wanted. My modesty wasn’t a factor - I had none. I wasn’t concerned with them looking at Robert. They could look, but I’d break their fingers off and feed them to Adonis if they touched. In my arms, my captive attempted to struggle for freedom. It was easy enough to bounce him hard against my shoulder - I felt the burst of air leave him as he came back to impact, and the sensation of having the breath knocked out of him seemed to be enough to still his attempts.

  It only took a few moments to get to my own, _private_ bunker. It was the place that all of the men in camp wished to end up, but only a scant few had ever seen. I’d made it special ready for the kitten in my arms now, and I was more than just a little anxious to see how good he would look against crimson. I kicked the door open, trusting that Adonis would push it shut behind us after ushering Lady in, and dumped the bundle in my arms against crimson sheets without warning.

  I only took a moment to look at him, spilled and wide-eyed against the sheets, and then I crawled onto the bed atop him. My mouth slanted, covering his again - and my stomach curled with pleasure at the feeling of the man beneath me struggling for dominance in the kiss. The distraction was an easy one, and I was easily able to clip metal cuffs around his wrists without him giving much notice - he was too lust drunk and needy in his first time to give much attention to anything other than our kiss. I could taste the pureness of him, and I wanted _more._

  I pulled back with a slow grin, sitting upright. Beneath me, breathless, panting, eyes half dazed with desire, he tried to follow me up.

  The clink of handcuffs against bedposts brought him to a still. The panic that flooded through his eyes was nearly as delicious as the taste of him still on my tongue. He jerked again, a vain attempt at escape, and I moved to the foot of the bed to cuff him spread eagle.

  Sweet.

  Innocent.

  Perfect.

   _Helpless._

A slow smirk curled across my visage, and I took a moment to roll my eyes up and look at my sweet little trussed up companion. I could feel the heat of my breath spilling from his engorged flesh back against my face, and his eyes flashed a sweet exhibition of his mixed emotions; but crawling out from the back, sweet desire reigned supreme in my vision.

  I was greedy enough to let my tongue slide out, a soft, slow stroke against the slitted head of his prick that still stood at attention. I drank down the taste of his pre-cum like it was my own, personal ambrosia. In that one taste, I could tell that he would burst into fire if I took him into my mouth - one sweet swallow would send him over the edge. His hips jerked, his body begging even as he tried to keep the sensation of _need_ off of his face. The body will _always_ give you away.

  I pulled back, a low chuckle spilling from my chest. The taste of him was still sweet and thick on my tongue, and it was heady. “So eager… that’s good, _so_ good.” I was going to make this an experience that he could never forget - no one would fuck him as good as I could. “I’ve got so many things to show you, kitten. So many things that I’m _dying_ for you to learn.”

   With his nectarous taste still clinging to my tongue, I pushed away from the bed.

   I wasn’t sure how long it would take the little kitten on my bed to cool down, so I made a show of making myself busy. I could feel his eyes trail me across the room, until I disappeared into the back. Even after, I kept my mind pressing hard against his own - the warmth of my presence a tangible thing even when he couldn’t see me. I couldn’t let his bitch’s panic spill through the link - I wanted him flaccid, not fighting. I’d always had the ability to impress my own will through the pack-bond, better than anyone that I’d met before. I happily exercised that skill now, with Robert Joseph MacCready, so his bitch’s fury was a small twinge in the back of our minds.

  I could hear the clink of cuffs against the solid wooden bedposts, but I wasn’t worried about him escaping. I’d set this room up with all levels of strength and size in mind - and my little kitten was nearly a head shorter than me. He wasn’t going to get out.

  I spilled back into the room, and I could feel him chained against the bed in a hot line on the back of my senses. I didn’t turn to look at him though - my voice, soft and silky, was murmuring a song under my breath that I’d heard on the Diamond City Radio Station more than once.

    _I’m the type of guy who will never settle down…_

 I could feel the tension between our bodies, thick and palpable, and my fingers made quick work of opening up the cooler where I kept the lube stored. Though there were multiple types, a slow grin spilled across my face - hubflower scented, of course. With the can in my hand, I stood again - only one thing left to do, really. I went to the door, carefully checking the latches. I made a show of it; look at the door, because I know that you aren’t going to go out of it.

  I turned after that, my fingers coming to the thick, muddied white fur of Adonis’ head. I knew that he wouldn’t let Lady turn to rip my fingers off, though I could feel the bristle of how much she wanted to.

  I wonder if she’d ever learn - she was safer here in this room than she’d ever be out there.

  The low rumble that spilled from Adonis’ chest didn’t need words. It was eager, aching. Lady was the most capable wolf amongst the camp. Of course he would want her.

  I looked at him, my head tilting, and pressed a response to my impatient companion.

   _Soon._

 _Fuckyesplease_.

  I hadn’t even sent the thought to my eager little captive, but he’d given me a response all the same. I turned my full attention back to the bed, back to the man lying against it - his cock was only _just_ erect. He’d calmed.

  That meant that I could start again.

    _Wonderful._

“What’s the matter, kitten?” I crawled slowly onto the bed, over his body so that the tease of my voice was accompanied by the tease of my body. “Did I leave you waiting too long?” Of course I had - that was the entire point of it. “I’m sorry… don’t you still want me?”

   _You will._

  He opened his mouth to respond, and I could see the _no,_ forming on his lips. I wasn’t going to take that - it wasn’t going to be uttered in my presence. I slid my mouth over his again, instead, and let my tongue sweep away his response. For some reason, I _really_ didn’t want to hear it from him. My tongue pierced and delved into the sweet cavern of his mouth for a moment, drawing a long growl of pleasure from my chest. After a moment, my greed overwhelmed me, and I pulled from his mouth to taste the rest of him.

  My head slipped down with the determination to leave no inch of him unexplored. I needed to note exactly where his sweet spots where, exactly where I could touch and taste that would drive him to the sweet brink of lust-induced insanity. When I found those spots, my mind pressed words against his own. _Do you like that, kitten? Here..?_ My tongue swept across his nipple, delving lower to lick a line along his side, _… or here?_ My teeth were a gentle bite against his flesh, my fingers holding tight to his hips to keep him still. _Yes, good, hold still for me--_

My mouth swept across the planes just to the side of his jolting and erect prick, the apex of his leg and pelvis. I sucked there long and hard. _Oh, there we go, that’s it, say my name kitten._ And he was - soft, low, throaty moans that I don’t think he realized were spilling from his throat. All that he was sending back in the net of our bond was a thrumming, jolting need of _want want want_ , backed with _why this? Stop, don’t stop…_

_Soon-- very soon._

My mouth shifted upward again, tongue paying tribute to the lean, perfectly toned stomach that was built from hard work and not enough food. I licked along those lines like a pilgrim paying tribute to a newfound land. The whimpers of my name rose higher, more erratic, and I fucking _loved_ the sound of it.

   _That’s it, kitten, louder now, I know you can. Because you can’t live without good ol’ Jack, can you?_

“ _Jack…!!”_ Strangled, needy, wanted and aching, and the volume of that shout was enough to draw my mouth from his skin, because my mind was burning to see his face now. My eyes caught his own, and I let my gaze sear into his mind.

  “Jack what?” My breath was a tickle of promise and threat against his flesh, but I refused to touch him again. My name wasn’t enough.

   My name was _always_ enough. But not now. I needed more.

   My fingers delved slowly down, slipping from his hips to squeeze his sweet, plump ass. He shifted, moaning against the touch, and _God,_ it sounded so good. “ _Tell me,_ kitten, tell Jack what you want him to do.”

   “ _Jack--”_ I wanted more than just that - my hands shifted again, fingers moving to delve between those sweet pillows, so that one digit could press against the tight ring of muscle that I wanted so very much to plunder. It was a sweet promise, and an aching threat. _Give me what I want._

_What did I want? His voice, more of his voice, crying, begging. Pleading._

“ _Jack please, please--!”_

_Ahh…_

My mouth moved on his cock in a quick motion, swallowing him down without any hesitation. I took him in until the sweet scent of his short-hairs tickled at my nose, and his hips answered the motion of my mouth. Intoxicating.

   _You taste so fucking good, kitten, yes, cry for me._

My mind was a soft flow of praise for the taste of him, the way that his length tickled against the back of my throat and left droplets of precum for me to swallow down. He whimpered so pretty, crying out my name, that a reward was in order. It wasn’t hard to shift my hands, slicking the digits with the purple lubrication, and then bring them back to my kitten’s tight little hole. I pressed for just a second against that tight ring of muscle, and then let the slickness of the lubrication do its work - my knuckle popped inside, and the rest of my finger followed. Inside, I crooked the digit, thrusting the long length upward to press hard against the sweet glands of pleasure that were hidden in his depths.  My finger stroked upward, and I could feel the tightness, the heat of him squeezing hungrily around the digit.

  My cock jumped with the feel of it - he was going to be _so good._ I slipped another finger in after a few thrusts.

   _So fucking tight and hot, kitten. Are you ready for me, yet?_

He spoke but he didn’t - the things uttered from his lips weren’t words so much as a small echo of unbidden, untouched sensation. My fingers scissored inside of him and drew out a scream of my name that I was sure poured through the camp. There was no guilt in me for this - only desire, and pleasure, and a need to claim and brand the sweet boy beneath me as mine. Forever.

   I’d do it with words - with begging, with lust and need. He’d never forget this night. No one would _ever_ make him feel this way.

   For now though, I needed another taste of him. I slid away from his body and heard it when he keened in protest, whimpering and whining at the lack of my touch. I chuckled - so needy, already. A mewling kitten beneath my ministrations. He was learning.

  My mouth pressed against his, because I couldn’t stand _not_ to drink down that sound, my tongue licking it up while my hips shifted. His tender hole was slicked with lubrication, and I could feel it warm against the tip of my dick as I let my hips angle to press the head of my cock against him. My hands moved, pressing against his abdomen - it wouldn’t do to let his eagerness spoil things now. I pressed forward, my prick a threat and a promise wrapped in a blanket of lust.

  “Do you want me, kitten?”

   I could see the word _please_ fill his eyes like a flood, but it wasn’t enough. “ _Jack_ \--”

   “Do you want me?” He hadn’t answered me, and I could feel my voice warming in more than just lust. A threat - I needed his answer like I needed to another breath. I wanted it to fill my lungs and give me life. I think he could sense it beneath me, because I could see him struggling to think, to feel past the ocean of _need_ in which I’d gladly cast him adrift. I moved forward, so that my mouth hovered over his - so that the sweet scent of grapes washed from my breath back into my nose, tinged with the flavor of his mouth.

  “ _Please Jack,”_ It was all one rush, like he only had the one breath to speak with. “ _Yes please yes yes_ !” I pushed forward to kiss him, wanting to take those words inside of me, to keep and covet them - but still, in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn’t enough. I needed more, and Robert Joseph MacCready needed to fucking _burn_ for me. I would take no less. I needed him dizzy and addicted, with my name branded on the tip of his tongue.

   I needed to _ruin_ him.

   I thrust my body forward, a low rumble of pleasure spilling through me as my hips spilled the head of my prick into that tight hole. It clenched around me, begging for more, but no. Not yet.

   I stilled completely, my palms pressed hard to his torso to keep him steady.

   “You’re going to have to beg harder than that, kitten. I can’t hear how much you want me.”

   I could see outrage in his eyes, and it was so goddamn delicious. He struck me as someone who didn’t beg, but… oh, he was begging now. With his eyes, with his body. With a million little whimpers of _yes please, I want you, I want you_ spilling from his tongue in a sweet litany to yours truly.

  But I needed more.

   _“Ask me to fuck you_ ,” Mmm, letting the demand drip from my tongue made my body blaze. Hearing him say them would be _perfect_. Maybe my new favorite words.

His head fell back, and I heard the whimper of agony and need and defeat, but then I heard him gasp in air. “ _Please_ , Jack-- I _want_ \--” He whimpered, scrambled, and then gave in to me.

_I always knew you would._

“Fuck me _please_.” My prick throbbed, my body threatening to explode then and there, and I thrust forward again - a sweet inch, and another… but not fully in. Not yet. There was one more thing.

_One more._

  “Who do you belong to, kitten?” 

  And this time he didn’t hesitate - this time he knew the answer. _“_ You _you_ Jack _please_.”

   Satisfaction burned through me in flames that touched all of my nerve endings. “And you’re always going to.” A sweet promise and deeper threat. He was never going to get away from me. I let my hips finally follow forward with the motion they’d wanted since I first snuggled my prick between his cheeks in the shower. I dove deep, and his body arched up on the bed to meet me.

  Better still, he screamed - and the sound burned away everything inside of me but the need to _fuck him senseless._ My hips gave no quarter, my tongue no mercy when it licked against his skin. There was nothing but the way that I was thrusting harder and faster into him, and the way that his body was trembling and clenching in threat of orgasm around my burning, aching prick. I didn’t care - I fucking wanted it. I wanted him to come so hard that he’d see stars, and so hard that he’d never feel satisfaction again, unless it was from _my touch_. He tried to jerk forward to meet me, but the cuffs kept him secure to the bed, kept him from wrapping needy hands around my body.

   I shifted my hips, timing my thrust with the intake of his breath - each gyration of my hips was punctuated with another scream that was my name and a confession of his pleasure all wrapped in one. I drew it out as long as I could, the hard ministrations of my pelvis perfectly angled to play over his sweet spot again and again until his mind was crying out _finally_ , and his lips were singing the words aloud in sweet duet to his thoughts.

  And then he was spilling scorching waves of thick, roped heat against his chest, against mine, and I was flooded with the scent of his pleasure. I wasn’t done yet, though - I wasn’t finished with him.

   Not by a long shot.

  My body continued to work, raking again and again over that cluster of nerves that would send wave after wave of pleasure pouring through his overwhelmed body - I could feel the tight heat of his core clenching against my cock again and again, milking and begging and just as wanton as the rest of him for the spill of my seed. And then my breath contracted, because his body _jerked_ around my dick; heat pulsed from me, thick heat that went straight into his gut and left him whimpering and whining in the most delicious way.

  My mouth came down to feed at those sounds again - _fuck me_ if he didn’t taste better than Grape Mentats in that moment - my hips continued to pump, sending my sweet fluids deeper into his body, and my tongue stroked in tandem with the swirl of my hips. I forced the kiss against his lips like a burning brand, and when the last of my pleasure spilled inside of him, I pulled back.

  But I didn’t crawl off of him. I stayed draped over his frame, sweat clinging to the lines of my body and aching pleasure a heady thing, addicting as the flavor of grape.

   “...Jack?” His voice was soft, timid, unsure.

   I’d make him sure. My sweet summer child wasn’t so innocent anymore.

  “You _belong_ to me now, kitten.” I pressed a kiss to his forehead as his eyes slipped closed. Exhaustion and overstimulation pulled him into a deep sleep - I’d been worried I’d have to drug him. Instead, I stayed curled against him, over him, protective and possessive for another moment. I could hear Adonis shifting behind me, keeping Lady pinned so that she wouldn’t turn to bite us both.

  Finally, I slid off of his body, my lilac eyes turning to the bitch behind us. “I could just leave him chained, you know?” But I wouldn’t do that. My hands made quick work of the cuffs, fingers taking a moment to massage at his wrists. I carefully arranged his slender frame in the center of the bed. As tempting as it was to curl up beside him so that he’d wake in the circle of my arms - the arms that owned him - I had things to do. As a leader, my work was _never_ done. Instead, I pulled a sheet up and over him, tucking him in with the utmost care.

   _Stay still_. Sharp, a fucking barked command, and Lady was stunned enough under the weight of it that Adonis had time to slip off of her as I made my way to the door. I cast one last glance back to Robert Joseph MacCready - my little Sniper, my purring kitten fast asleep and filled with my brand.

   _Mine._ I pressed the thought against him, and he twisted in his sleep - hands reaching, or maybe moving to push away. With a low chuckle, I grabbed a change of clothes and spilled nude from the room, modesty the last thing on my mind as I moved.

  I needed a shower.

 

\---

 

  Business took a bit longer than I intended, but not so long that I felt guilty leaving my little Sniper closed up in my room. Afterall, I had a clean supply of water in there. I took the time to stop by the kitchens on the way back - I usually had the top-of-the-line meal, and the cook didn’t blink twice when I asked for double the amount. The only thing that he looked at me oddly for was the pitcher of milk that I demanded.

  He knew that I didn’t like milk.

  Adonis was given double portions of a large chunk of _some type of meat_ without question, and we headed back to the room, the blood of the fresh kill dripping from his jaws in a spattering trail against the dirty ground. Even before I stepped through the door, my wolf had his ears perked forward, his head tilted curiously.

   _Noise. Inside. Moving._

  Hm, seemed my little kitten was being curious.

  I pushed the door open in time to see him shoving himself back from the metal cooler that I kept pushed out of sight. I held the door open with one arm, the tray of food carefully balanced on the other. I knew, without a doubt in my mind, that he wasn’t going to run. I’d spent months getting myself familiar with his habits, and I was starkly aware of the fact that MacCready ate once a day.

  Only once, but like clockwork. It never failed - I’d picked up the habit of it when we were traveling back to the Gunner’s camp. He’d watched me with careful eyes then, and once we’d gotten back to the camp, I’d returned the favor. Even the cook muttered under his breath about the fact that MacCready didn’t seem to like his food, because he only showed up to eat dinner.

  I’d ordered extra portions for him then - only a little at a time, so that he’d be less inclined to notice the increase, but still.

  I was also aware of the fact that he had skipped eating last night in lieu of the empty shower. The food in my arms smelled mouthwatering, and I could already see both he and Lady staring at it, hunger twisting along with anxiety in their minds. Adonis beside me perked his ears forward, his nose inhaling the scent of what MacCready had been up to.

  He impressed on me the scent of them - everywhere - and MacCready still smelling like grape and sex and steel..He’d been going through my things. Naughty, curious boy.

  “We brought you dinner, kitten.” I smiled, slow and sure of myself, and closed the door behind me. I casually strolled in front of where he was crouched and sat myself back against the bed; my eyes didn’t stray from him as I moved. “Don’t you want to come eat with me? Aren’t you hungry?”

  I heard it when his stomach rumbled, and triumph spiked through me. I was _always_ right. Even with the plate full in my arms, I knew he wasn’t going to run. Of course, if he had, Adonis would have caught him before he made it very far.

  Beside me, my wolf dropped the other half of the meat he’d been holding into a hubcap beside the bed, and I watched as Lady nosed hungrily towards it. Robert bit his lower lip in front of me, and just the sight of it made my stomach twist in desire. I’d be biting that lip soon enough.

  I saw it when his head hung in shame, I watched the decision of food and my offering overtake his need to escape. Slowly, resigned, he headed back to the bed and stood in front of me, his hands out. He made a point not to _ask_ . Impertinent, defiant. _Delightful._

  “Now, kitten, really?” I pushed back on the bed, sitting the tray on the stand beside me, out of his reach unless he came forward. “Do you think it’s going to be that easy?” I pulled myself to lean back on the bed and crooked one finger at him, my body stretching like a pleased cat. “Come here and give Jack a kiss. After all, I brought you a special dinner. Radstag steak, potatoes,” I tilted my head to the side, pulling my jacket off so that the blank tank I wore beneath my Gunner uniform was exposed. “Milk?”

  His eyes flicked towards the food, excited, unsure, anxious.

  God, he was a fucking delicious treat. My dessert, as it were. And I would be his.

He stepped forward, slowly, cautiously, his eyes all for the food - when he came to the edge of the bed, my hands grabbed his hips, pulling his nude frame to straddle my own. My fingers ran greedily along his chest for just a moment, pads ghosting against the bruises that I’d left the night prior, and then I caught him behind the neck and pulled him flush against me for a kiss.

   _Delicious dessert, indeed. And all mine._

 

\---

 

  Something had settled wrong with me when I left the bedroom early that morning, leaving before Robert had woken. Something prickled along my flesh, tempting me to stay between the sheets, to wake him with a hand between his legs – lips, teeth, tongue… my mind demanded his lust, my own satisfaction. But I couldn’t. A new batch of recruits were being delivered to one of the outer levels of the camp, and I had to oversee and approve of which could be allowed in and which should be disposed of. I always trusted my judgement of people far more than any of my Gunners, and I wasn’t going to stray from that practice. It was my careful attitude that had kept us so efficient. I wasn’t going to give up that control… even though my entire body was pulsing with _desire_ to take the man beside me and make him scream out my name.

  Later. There would always be later. I was never going to let him go.

  My task took far longer than I desired – most of the new recruits were passable, a small group of seven men that had been traveling together. I brushed over the welcoming, unwilling to spend any longer away from my room than I had to; my stomach was twisting, and something was burning through the air like static before a rad storm. I needed to get back.

  I could sense that something was wrong when I came back into camp– the air was static, and the patrol that should have been strolling the perimeter of the camp was nowhere to be seen. More than that, in the back of my mind, I could hear growling, snapping, aching things. My eyes narrowed, my body instantly stiffening. I knew, without checking in my mind, where I needed to go. I knew it, and something snarling and primal was building up inside of me with the thought of it.

  My room. My little Sniper.

   _Heat._ It burned along my skin, and beneath it a warm, sizzling anger – the others were there. That was where my patrol was, that was where the wolves were. That was where Adonis, streaking from my side in a blur of white darted. I heard the vicious growl escaping his chest as he moved – his territory, his bitch. She was locked behind the door, and she was calling to him.

  To us.

  My hackles rose in tandem with Adonis’ at the simple fact that there were others pawing at the door, interlopers on the territory that was mine and mine alone. I actually let a low snarl spill from my chest, my fingers twitching to grab my knife. But no - this was pack business, and it would be handled as such. I could already feel whatever presence it was within me that gave me such tight control over the pack-sense swelling up, rearing its head as though it had been challenged. And in some sense, it had. I’d declared my little Sniper off limits to the Gunners from day one, and they were challenging that. Nevermind that it was instinctual. Nevermind that they honestly couldn’t help themselves. Logic had no place in the ugly snarl of red that was my head, the growling, furious place that would rip them apart if they’d touched him.

  He was _mine_.

  I broke into the same lope as Adonis, my muscles pumping me forward until I heard the snarling, snapping, chuffing, whimpering at the red door that led to my room. _My room. My kitten._ They were trying to break through the solid steel, and everything inside of me bubbled over. I stepped forward, seizing one by the scruff of his neck and throwing him with a strength that I hadn’t realized I possessed. He whimpered, and his human brother let out an accompanying sound. It wasn’t just the wolves - if it had just been the wolves, then Adonis’ snapping jaws may have caused them less pain that I intended. It was men, crawling, rattling the knob, trying to figure out the locks. Adonis has pushed his way to the front of the group with teeth and paws, snarls and dominance, and I could see his ears pricked forward, his fur standing on end - he could sense Lady inside. I could sense her through him… and through that, a burning heat at the back of my mind that demanded I get inside, _now._

   My green-eyed-monster was the color of blood, and he let a violent roar out, mental and all consuming.

   _Stay._

  The world fell to silence, and I could hear again - I could hear Robert behind the door, his body twisting with fire, his flesh sweetly engorged with need until I could only see in streaks of red on red, fury and lust, two twins caught in a swirling dance. I took a few steps forward, letting my presence as leader swell forward, out, bursting over the quivering group of man and wolf alike who cowered beneath me. My chest rose and fell hard and fast, my heart thundering. Amongst the middle of the throng, I let the word lash out like a whip, cracking against the pack’s senses - daring them to challenge me, breaking them before they could.

  From inside, I could feel a wash of _need_ and _acceptance_ and _choosing._ It came from Lady

  It came from my eager MacCready. His choice - so sure in his mind that only _one_ would do… and was me.

  It burned through my senses and sent me forward - I couldn’t wait any longer. I only just hid the tremor in my fingers as I slid the key home into the lock of the door. For a second, I could hear the _desire_ burning off of everyone outside of the doorway as I pulled the door open; but my eyes fixed forward and I knew why.

  A streak of muddied white was Adonis running past me - he had no patience for my games this time. He was drawn to Lady like lightning to metal, and there was no stopping him. I was frozen, for a moment, in the doorway - Robert Joseph MacCready’s ass was high in the air, his body knelt away from me, held under the same thrall of _stay_ that the rest of the pack was. He knelt, quivering, perfect, needy and ready.

  And all _mine._

  I closed the door behind me, sliding the locks home against a wave of furious protest, but I slammed the doors of my mind against those feelings - they weren’t for my kitten, though I’d let them barrage my brain to keep them away from him. This moment was not theirs, and he wouldn’t have them in his mind. I stepped forward as Adonis mounted Lady - his teeth against her scruff was my hand burning to dig into the flesh of _his_ neck, his hips thrusting forward was my cock jerking to attention, and questioning why I couldn’t feel the squeezing tightness of _his_ core. My body was burning, aching, and I fought hard against the outrage from outside and my own slipping self control. Tumultuous, snapping and snarling in my mind - the only clarity was the thought of _him._

I took a few precious moments to strip my clothing from my body, aware that each second kept me from mounting his body, and each moment that I wasn’t was an eternity of torture.

Quick strides brought me forward, and I dropped to my knees in a swift motion that brought my hand to his neck - my fingers setting against his flesh sent a shockwave of rightness through me, but I couldn’t follow my brother along to pleasure just yet. I wouldn’t break the kitten beneath me in wake of the animal in my mind, clawing and snarling to get out.

   My hand on his neck was firm, pressing his face down to the red carpet, and I brought my fingers to my mouth, sucking hard for just a moment. Saliva drenched, I lowered them between us - thankfully, the fuckery that had been occurring between us made my entrance into his core easier than if we hadn’t. Just feeling the sweet tightness of that ring of muscle, and then the sensation of his hips thrusting backward, begging me with his motion was nearly enough to undo me. I felt a low, rumbling growl spill from deep in my chest. And then those words, sweet and laced with lust. Only how _he_ could say them.

   _Yes please finally._

 My mind roared - he stroked against my sweet spots with his voice, the spots that I’d taught him over the past days. But I couldn’t - not yet. I wouldn’t fucking break him under the weight of lust that was slowly pooling inside of me and threatening to rip me apart. The swell and craze from the pack outside did nothing to help me, and I forced my mind forward, stamping hard against his need.

   _Wait._ My fingers tightened in tandem with my demand, though red was swirling at the edges of my vision like a tempest waiting to sweep the land. Soon… soon. But not _yet._

My fingers thrust in, slow, achingly slow. I relished the sound of the needing, aching, heated, noise that spilled from his chest. Those sounds, _my_ sounds. My perfect fucking sounds that burned inside of me and made another growl spill from my throat. I dared him to disobey me with the slow, near languorous pace of my fingers. They twisted and worked, scissoring his sweet heat and letting that warmth penetrate down the length of my arm and straight to the stiffness of my cock. My fingers against his neck refused to let him move, while my digits inside of his sweet ass worked him into a frenzy. He trembled, he whined, he set my very soul on fire until I could see nothing but _him, him, him…_

My fingers slid from his center, and I heard a sound ache from his chest. Heartbroken, bereft, shattered into a thousand pieces at the loss of my touch - it pooled and poured through me, and my body snapped into awareness at how much I _fucking wanted him._ The wolf-heat was slowly consuming all that I was, and I only had enough mind left of me to make my thrust inside of him slow, pushing my swollen head past his worked ring, diving in an inch at a time until we both burned with my command of _wait. Stay._

He was silk against my dick, and the sensation of Adonis’ mating was nearly enough to bring me forward in a frenzy. Nearly, but not quite, because I pushed forward slowly… so torturously slow - we both trembled, though I didn’t think he had enough of himself left to realize that I shook above him. My fingers flexed, my hips sliding those last few inches home so that I was sweetly sheathed in his core - surrounded by everything and nothing, all at once. The back of my mind whispered words that I couldn’t understand - that I’d never heard before. I pushed those aside, those words that felt like lust, but had a different, all-consuming meaning.

    _Please._ It rocked through me once, hard. Fast. My cock pulsed, testicles squeezing in threat of release just from the way that he whined. _Pleaseplease._ Again, it burned through me, and I clenched my eyes shut tight, feeling my body pulse in a hard tremor that nearly jerked my spine.

   _Please._

Fuck, I couldn’t resist him. I had to move. I had to fill him. I had to _own_ him.

  My hips were a snap, my body a movement of the savage and burning need to completely consume him, to make him my possession now and always. Everything inside of me was a wave of sensation and emotion, an animal holding tightly to its mate - an alpha, and in the back of my mind, tales of the fact that wolves from the old world mated for _life_ burned, and were instantly replaced by the clench of his body against my thrusting. I couldn’t be easy - I could only slam forward until flesh smacked flesh and the head of my prick seemed intent on driving straight to touch his heart. I _burned_ with the sensation of him squeezing like silk around my cock, my hand moving to grab his hip so hard that I could see my fingers mottled and shaking. One word replaced the cries of all others in my mind - one word, and it was like a sweet promise and a dangerous threat all at once.

  But it was one word. The only word. The only truth that I could feel around the burning pleasure of possessive desire, of owning my kitten well and fully. That singular, eternal truth. He was mine.

**_Mine._ **

And he _always_ would be.

 

  ---

 

     I’d been up for an hour, doing something very uncharacteristic - I was _holding_ the man in front of me, occasionally stretching a finger out to run along the curve of his lower lip, the line of his jaw. I blamed it on the fact that Adonis felt more content than I’d ever experienced before, and the pack-sense was flooded with the sensation of he and Lady curled happily around one another, sure that their mating would be a glorious success. Their level of content was a soft thrum in my chest, and that _had_ to be the reason that I was facing my little Sniper, my legs twined with his, my arms holding him close to my chest.

  I was completely aware of the soft beat of his heart, and I couldn’t completely understand why it actually _mattered_ to me. I had business to attend to. I’d been in the room for days upon end, and though I had Winlock and Barnes to run things when I was unavailable, I usually didn’t let things out of my control for any extended amount of time.

  At the moment though, the only thing that I couldn’t let out of my control was Robert Joseph MacCready - his arms holding tight to me like I was a lifeline seemed to be a vitally important task that I _had_ to attend to.

  His lips twitched for a moment, the ghost of contentment, and I heard the shift of his breathing as he stirred slightly. I settled further against the bed, my body only slightly aching in protest to my movement - lilac eyes were heavy lidded as I waited to see what he would do. He inhaled slowly, and I could smell grapes on his breath where my mouth had claimed him over and over - he didn’t jolt awake with a start. He didn’t realize that we were twined together in bed and try to pull away… instead, he snuggled closer, a murr of contentment spilling from his chest.

  Through the pack-bond, weaved tight and close between the four bodies in the room, I could hear the soft drift of his thoughts. He was sure that Lady was going to have puppies… and he was wondering if he would be expecting a little bundle any time soon.

  My chest twinged slightly - it was almost sweet, his innocence. He’d thought it once before, and I’d used it to pull him closer to me. Thinking it now, for just a sweet second, I was pulled into the lull of his vision. Of a safe house, a smiling baby with blonde hair and lilac eyes. For just a second, I could _feel_ it. And for just a second, I was more confused than I’ve been in a long while. That life wasn’t for me - I knew it.

  So why did I care?

  I wasn’t sure, so I decided the best thing to do was ignore it. Even as I thought that, my arms pulled him closer, drawing him sweet and tight against my chest. His nose rested against my collarbone, nuzzling gently for a moment and then settling against my scent. Still, something stirred inside of him, enough to make him work himself into speech.

  “...Jack?”

  I didn’t have answers to any of his questions - I didn’t have answer to my own. Instead, I did what I knew to do, what I could always do best. A gentle prod of my mind through our pack-bond had his head tilting backward, and I slanted my mouth over his in a scorching hot, hard kiss--

  At least, that was my intention.

  It was slow though, sweet and achingly steady. My tongue played a gentle beat of comfort against his, and I licked the roof of his mouth in tantalizing circles, like I was making love in all of the ways that the heat hadn’t allowed me to do. He relaxed against the kiss, drawing closer to me, and I could feel his thoughts that this had to be a dream, because _Jack didn’t kiss this way_.

  I didn’t. I’d never kissed this way before - but my lips were a slow draw, and I let them play soft against his until he called my name again, in my head, the same soft question.

   I only had one answer. I kept my mouth against his, so that my lips were a gentle brush. “M’here.” Lackadaisical, half asleep… but _fuck me_ , I was more aware than I wanted to be - he was here, in my arms… and all that I wanted to do at that moment was keep him safe, keep him here, keep him mine forever. This moment… it was…

   _Something_.

  At the sound of my voice, I felt the tension in his body release. He pulled a fraction closer to me, and I felt it as he allowed sleep to suck him back down, our breath intermingling and our bodies sweetly interlaced. I couldn’t sleep though, because all that I could feel was his body holding tight to my own, his heartbeat a gentle thrum.

  And my own heartbeat, the fucking traitor in my chest, slowed to match tempo perfectly.

   _What the actual fuck_ ? But I couldn’t let him go. I felt so goddamn _possessive_ that the thought of even letting the door open so that the others could snag a peek into the room made me twitch for a second in fury. No. _No._ I’d worry about it tomorrow. I’d go back to being Jack, careless and lustful, and without this strange _beat_ in my chest.

 _I’m so_ **_fucked_ ** _…_

  I’d worry about it _tomorrow…_ for now, I settled against him, forehead coming to rest against his, lips brushing another soft kiss to his mouth… and I let myself _sleep._

 

_\---_

 

  It was funny how red always seemed to be the color that my vision ran when it felt like someone was going threatening my little Sniper. I didn’t know who it was, but my finger was already gripped around my knife, and I was prepared to slit their throat and hide the body - who in the fuck would _dare_ to touch what was mine? Lady and I had felt the distress at the same time, the threat, but I was the one closer. Somewhere away, Adonis let out a low, rumbling snarl that spilled through our bond and down my spine. I wasn’t far away from him now, and I was beginning to get a sense of who had cornered him. Private Casey - and the fury, indignation and _jealousy_ that rolled off of her struck me like a brick.

  In tandem, I felt Robert’s anxiety, his _guilt_ , his confusion, and his answering _jealousy_.

  It only took me a second to pick up on what they were talking about, as I rounded the corner, their words hit my ears.

  “What are you talking about? That’s not how it--”

  “That’s _exactly_ how it _fucking works_ . You’re the only bitch that’s _ever_ gotten a solo, you know that, and you’re not even _grateful_ for it, are you?”

   _Are you_ ? The question echoed in my mind, and I almost hung back to wait, to see how he’d respond. I almost let my own curiosity get the better of me. But _rage_ was a wonderful motivator. How _dare_ she make him feel cornered like this? How _dare_ she talk to _my_ Sniper that way? How _dare_ she fucking shirk her duties to come and threaten what was _mine_?

  How dare she make me feel a twinge of _guilt_ at the fact that everything she said, everything she was feeling… was my fault? I hadn’t thought of what the Gunner’s with bitches went through - it hadn’t occurred to me that it was anything less than a duty. I had never known, until my time with Robert, that solo-heats could be so…

   _Fuck._ How dare she do any of this at all? If she wasn’t pregnant, I might have gutted her. But she was, and Robert would have never spoken to me again. It wasn’t my own guilt at her situation that stopped me.

   _Right’o, Jackie-boy. Keep fucking telling yourself t--_

I slammed my own thoughts away with a sharp and fierce snarl and stood up straight, my voice cracking out like lightning in a rad storm.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be on post, Private?” Even I could hear the furious clip to my voice. I hated the way that Robert instantly shirked down and away, like he wanted to melt into the very ground to avoid my tone - but at the same time, the fact that Casey made the same terrified expression pulsed pleasure through me. _Good._ I’d ignore the guilt that came with the satisfaction. I had to push back the lashing fury in the back of my mind to handle the situation. I leaned in, letting my mouth brush close to Private Casey’s ear. My voice was a murmur, because my little Sniper didn’t need to hear my threats.

  “Casey, listen very carefully to me. I hadn’t thought about your situation before, and you have MacCready in front of you to _thank_ for the fact that I’m thinking of it now - **never** forget that. If you behave yourself, I’ll make sure that what happened to you before never happens again - to you or any other sibling with a bitch.” I pulled back, letting my full lips turn into a smile for her, lilac eyes bright.

“I.. I understand, sir.” Her voice stuttered slightly. “I.. thank you, sir.”

That smile on my visage turned sour, my eyes cooling to a dead and emotionless winter - the pounding in the back of my mind that was my little kitten worrying that I was just _using_ him made my threat all the sharper. My vision was a blur of crimson, my feelings a wash of furious anger and… disappointment - yes, that’s what it had to be, because it couldn’t be _hurt_ . Go ahead and let him wonder about _that._ Still, I wasn’t finished with _Private Casey_ just yet.

  “Private, another thing to keep in mind.” I moved to her other ear for this whisper, so that my breath was a hot wash against her flesh, and she could feel the pounding fury and possessiveness - that little word that wasn’t lust but something quite like it pouring through for her mind and her mind alone. “If you ever fucking threaten him again, I’ll wait until you pop out your baby and strangle you with the umbilical cord so that I can give your little whelp to MacCready. For _him_ , I will kill you, and I’ll _enjoy_ doing it. Do you understand me?” I waited a moment for her reaction, and then thrust assurance through the bond - assurance that I meant _both_ promises.. How the situation turned out was completely up to her.

  “I understand.” The answer was small - so small that I hardly heard it. _Good enough._

  I turned, completely dismissive, and let my gaze fall to my little Sniper, still curled on the ground and not looking up at me. Submissiveness and stinging pain rolled off of him in waves, making the anger and frustration inside of me swirl harder, coming to some cataclysmic peak that I could hardly keep immured. Why didn’t he _understand._ Why couldn’t _I_ **understand**?

I stepped forward, my hand coming out to rest against his neck in a light pressure. I could feel conflict thrumming through the pack-bond like a wave begging the fury in my chest to subside. Just that touch caused him to roll, to look up at me… and I couldn’t school my features. I couldn’t stop everything that I was feeling, everything that I didn’t understand, to frame against my visage on the wings of the one emotion that I could understand - anger.

  I could see how it lashed out against him, how he seemed to want to melt away from me - but he didn’t move… and my touch was like a siren call to his very soul. Of course it was - it’s what I’d wanted it to be all along. I’d known it from the beginning - from the first time I saw him. That it was _something--_

I didn’t want to figure that out. Instead, I let my fingers spill a light pressure on his neck, and he rose up to meet me without hesitation, so that our bodies were hot lines that nearly touched. I moved until my mouth was a breath away from his own, and the space between us seemed to hold the answer to everything that I couldn’t force myself to ask.

  The answer to that unspoken question spilled suddenly across that distance that was nothing but a breath, but miles all at once, and pressed his mouth hot against my own.

_The word isn’t lust, Jackie-boy, but you’re close_ _._

  Startled shock poured through me - he’d _never_ kissed me before. It was soft and sweet, tentative and backed with the thoughts of _want-me, forgive me._ _Hope_ tasted sweeter than grapes on the back of my tongue… and for that second alone, I could admit that I was well and truly _lost._

  I didn’t want to be found.

 _Fuck me…_ But he was _mine._ The words _only you, kitten_ banged at the back of my senses, but I pressed forward with _mine_ instead, letting it spill down into his very center and write my name like a brand across his heart.

   _Brother-mine?_ The words echoed in my head. Lady. But I didn’t break our kiss, even as my kitten answered with a soft _Okay._ I was too wrapped up in _his kiss,_ given to me. My fingers played soft and held gently against the back of his neck. He was trembling, but I’d never let him fall.

  I would never let him _go_.

  

_\---_

 

  I knew something was wrong by the fact that I didn’t want to leave my bedroom again. I was half tempted to tell Robert that he didn’t have to do his duty for the day - but he was already catching shit, and I wasn’t going to make it worse. I untangled myself from his grasping limbs and resisted the urge to run my fingers slowly over his chest. He made a face in his sleep, something that I couldn’t read, and then I exited the room. Adonis gave a soft, whining protest, but followed me.

  I could sense that something was off all day - the pack-bond that I held with my little Sniper was something far stronger than anything I’d experienced before. It let me know that his stomach was rolling, that he had no appetite, that anxiety was burning and twisting through him like a living, breathing thing. I didn’t like it.

  I didn’t like it at all.

  It wasn’t as though I could pull myself away from what I was doing. Since his run-in with Casey, I’d been putting into works something that I’d meant to do all along. Right now, it was meetings and scouting for new locations - putting in the work to make sure that those locations would be completely secure and ready within the next year. It was high time that the Gunners took a leaf out of the book of the Military Branch that we’d originally sprung from. We were going to have organized heats - careful, regulated. I told myself that it was to make sure we only had the best breeding stock, with no generational crossing that could bite us later down the road… but I knew that it was something about the guilt that Robert felt over Casey, in tandem with the fact that I hadn’t realized until that point how…

  How good a one-on-one heat could be.

  I wanted my men and women to live in a healthy atmosphere of contentment and fear - it was the best way to lead. This organization of our resources was just another way to accomplish that. I had no other motive.

   _I didn’t have another motive, damn it._

I pushed the thought from my mind, aware of a slow pain that was building somewhere deep in my chest. It didn’t take long to realize that it was from my little kitten - and as soon as I felt it, I realized what had been causing him so much anxiety all day. I should have guessed, with how fat Lady had gotten; I should have known that she was going to drop her pups any day now.

  I could feel him twisting in discomfort - he needed somewhere to be, somewhere safe. The mentality that he had brought with him from his childhood days hadn’t really left - he wanted to crawl behind a rock somewhere. Something inside of me twisted - fury, anger, disappointment… I wasn’t sure. But I prodded a slow thought into his mind, so subtle that I knew he wouldn’t notice that it had come from me at all.

   _The shack._

The thought twisted in his mind, and again my emotions swirled with the fact that he had any debate about it. But after a moment, I felt the decision click into place… and I knew that when my business was done, I would know exactly where to find him. I had to try to push the thought of going to him to the back of my mind and concentrate on the matter at hand - even he would understand that I had the largest faction in the Commonwealth to run.

  It didn’t stop a small thrum of _want_ that stayed hard in the back of my mind for the next few hours.

  Finally, I was able to retreat - Lady had already started. I could feel the sensation of it doubly from both she and Robert. I came into the room laden with food, blankets, and water. She might not want it now, but a bitch nursing needed to keep her strength up. I pushed my key into the lock and instantly felt a small bubble of emotion - affection. _My sweet kitten._

_Jack?_

I wasn’t going to barge into the room without identifying myself. _Safe_ . I pushed the thought out hard, trying to let it settle like a blanket over them. I opened the door, and Adonis darted by me. Maybe he’d been too wrapped up in the web of our bond, but he seemed to hold a claim to Lady’s puppies - starkly aware that they were _his._ He snuffled the foot of the bed for a moment and then retreated, settling his large bulk in front of the door.

   _Protect._ Adonis threw the thought out, and I let it spill from the both of us over the pack-sense. Protect. That was what we were here to do…

  I settled the bundle of supplies that I’d brought at the foot of the bed, and then crawled atop the red sheets. I was _not_ going to crawl onto the floor beside them - that wasn’t a thing that Jack did. Aside from that, it was Robert’s moment. Even I could understand that it held sanctity.

  I didn’t want to think about where that understanding had come from, because it sure as fuck hadn’t been there before.

  My eyes slipped closed, but I could hardly doze - I was feeling a wash of sensation rolling between Robert and Lady - his aching attachment, his happiness, joy, things that I’d never experienced in my life. The affection that he’d bubbled with at my appearance earlier dimmed in wake of what he felt now.

  I couldn’t even be angry about it - I wasn’t jealous. I was just… in awe. I laid in the wash of those emotions and felt them sinking deeper inside of me, until Lady moving against her brother caught my attention and caused me to open one eye.

   _Fresh-fired rifle and newborn puppies._

  Lady’s thought was clear, and I think I understood what she was saying just a moment before Robert did. A slow smile spread across my lips.

  “..fuck. No way, Lady.”

   _Is your name. Always your name._

“Lady..” _No it wasn’t._

_Always._

I heard him trying to argue with her, and I could tell from the beginning that it was a lost battle. Her will was incontestable, and it seemed that no amount of whining from my kitten was going to do him a damn bit of good.

  Above him, a small laugh spilled from my chest - I couldn’t help it.

  Honestly, it was going to be a fucking shame when we had to pull the puppies away from him. He was going to be devastated; while comforting him in the wake of that depression would be a fucking _delicious pleasure_ , it was still going to be a bit painful to watch him go through it. I’d pull them when he and Lady weren’t here - I wasn’t going to have them associate their disappearance with _me._ I knew better than that.

  I wouldn’t worry about that now though - for now, I settled further against the sheets, wrapping myself in the odd comfort of their shared bond - soon, I’d pull MacCready onto the bed, up and against my chest. But for now… for now, I’d let them sleep.

 

\---

 

  That guilt that I’d been worrying about was a small twinge in my chest as I sent Robert and Lady out for a patrol. Word had spread, whispers that the Gunners were going to be going through major changes within the next year - though I’d never said anything specific, _somehow_ the knowledge that it was one Robert Joseph MacCready’s influence that had started the movement was flitting through the camp.

  I wasn’t so worried about a hormonally insane woman stabbing my little kitten while he was out on duty. And he had to be out, because today was the day. A month and a half exactly - the pups were eating hard food. Even though I was going to miss little Grapes nipping at my heels, that didn’t stop me from calling in the boys to spill them out of the room while my Sniper was out on duty.

  I made damn sure that I wasn’t in that room all day - I was working out logistics for the newest camp. Neither Adonis or I would be a fresh scent in the room, and I’d even given the boys permission to toss my mattress so that it looked like they’d been in and out in a hurry.

  After they took the pups away, I told them to _never come back_ to camp. I wasn’t going to have it spill around that I’d orchestrated some grand scheme. There was a small thought in my mind to simply have the two men shot once the pups had been delivered. Still, that little twinge in my chest bothered me. I could feel it when they spilled into the room - I could feel the way that little Grapes whined, and fierce Steel snarled, trying to protect her siblings. I could feel it, and I didn’t do a damn thing about it as they were carefully loaded into boxes and pulled out of camp hours before Robert was even off of detail.

  I made sure that he felt _nothing_.

  There was a part of me, a very _small_ part, that regretted taking them. I think it was that part that had demanded the men report with where the pups had been delivered - I was going to keep tabs on them, make sure that they bonded, that their siblings were given the best training. That regret wasn’t going to stop me though - I’d regret not seeing my little kitten’s ass wagging needy in the air far more. The sooner I pulled her pups, the sooner he’d go into heat.

  It was Gunner rules and regulations, and I wasn’t going to break them now just to benefit his emotions. I’d take _care_ of those. I had a way with cheering him up, after all. I’d kiss away his tears, until the sorrow started to shift into a slow burn. Adonis and Lady had grown close enough that I’m sure he’d keep her company - company enough that I could turn that slow burn into a roaring fire that was screaming my name all over again. My favorite word - my favorite word when Robert was the one screaming it.

  That little cry of _guilt_ wasn’t enough to outweigh the promise of that delicious moment, or the thought of his hot, tight body in heat and begging for me all over again. My dick gave a twitch just thinking about it, and I had to calm my thoughts.

  Still… I wondered how far they’d gotten by now - I’d sent two of my best men, to make sure that they were delivered safely. That nibble of _guilt_ twinged at me again, and I pushed it aside. I was Gunner Jack, Smiling Jack, Charming Jack - I was the leader of the largest and most successful mercenary group in the Commonwealth.

  In the back of my mind, I felt a wash of pain - Robert had gotten back to the shack. I swept a worried expression across my features and headed for him…

   _Show time._

Even as I walked towards my room, _guilt_ and something else told me that this was _wrong._ I ignored their chatter in wake of the pleasure that I knew would come. A tiger couldn’t change his stripes - _guilt_ and that word that wasn’t lust but something quite close murmuring in the back of my mind wasn’t going to make me change mine.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [That Word Not Lust](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6074023) by [EgoDominusTuus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EgoDominusTuus/pseuds/EgoDominusTuus)




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